The context within which professional social work is being practised in 2024 is perhaps the most challenging since its inception. Lack of resources in local government the NHS and the third sector have increased pressure on social work staff significantly, including higher caseloads, increased unpaid work out of hours and stress at an all-time high. Years of austerity, the impact of Covid-19, increased energy prices and a cost-of-living crisis have, at the same time, increased the number of people within our communities living in poverty and disadvantage.
It is against this backdrop that we produced, in collaboration with SASW and Unison, a series of statements across three headings, the purpose of social work, how we work and leading and supporting social work addressing this key question.
Read the statements here (pdf)
The following report is a qualitative analysis of the open-ended qualitative responses provided from three questions within the survey, which was put together by Dr Gillian MacIntyre, and Dr Ailsa Stewart, both of the University of Strathclyde. The three questions considered within this report are:
- Do the statements reflect what you’d want the social work profession to look like from the perspective of a practitioner?
- Is there anything missing from the statements that you would like to see included?
- Is there anything else you’d like to say about the statements?
